Snorkel Safety Study Sheds Light On Unexplained Drownings In Hawaii 1 The three-year project finds many snorkeling-related deaths aren’t from inhaling water, and that long flights beforehand may play a role.
For years, snorkeling in Hawaii has been by far the leading cause of tourist deaths, and snorkel-related drownings with no signs of distress have often been a mystery. A new study offers some reasons why.
A subcommittee established in 2019 by the state Department of Health recently completed the Snorkel Safety Study, funded by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
The study rebuts the common belief that snorkeling-related deaths are just from water inhalation, according to the project director, Carol Wilcox. She said it turns out the cause of most snorkel-related fatal and near-fatal drownings is due to low levels of oxygen in body tissues prompted by excess fluid buildup in the lungs, otherwise known as hypoxia induced by rapid onset pulmonary edema, or ROPE.
